Svema
Encyclopedia
Svema is a registered trade mark and former name ("NPO "Svema") of the Shostka Chemical Plant, located in Shostka
, Sumy Oblast
, Ukraine
. It was founded in 1931 in then Ukrainian SSR
.
"Svema" used to be the major photographic film manufacturer in the USSR, but their film lost market share in former Soviet countries to imported products during the late 1990s. They made black-and-white
photographic film
, photographic paper
and B&W/colour cine film until 2000. Colour fim was made with equipment dismantled from the Agfa-Wolfen Factory after World War II. Svema products were known among enthusiasts as an easy and sturdy product for beginners in home film development and printing.
Their black-and-white photographic films were:
Type 1981
(old GOST
speed scale
)
around late 1980s:
Type 1990
(new GOST
speed scale
, same as ASA)
The plant's production of photographic products slowed through the 1990s and ceased entirely in 2000. Svema shut down completely in 2006, having served only as a district heating source for the town of Shostka in the intervening years.
Shostka
Shostka is a town in Sumy Oblast in north-east of Ukraine. The population is 85,800 . The town lies on the river Shostka, a tributary of Desna, from which it gets its name...
, Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast is an oblast in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy.Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It was founded in 1931 in then Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
.
"Svema" used to be the major photographic film manufacturer in the USSR, but their film lost market share in former Soviet countries to imported products during the late 1990s. They made black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
photographic film
Photographic film
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
, photographic paper
Photographic paper
Photographic paper is paper coated with light-sensitive chemicals, used for making photographic prints.Photographic paper is exposed to light in a controlled manner, either by placing a negative in contact with the paper directly to produce a contact print, by using an enlarger in order to create a...
and B&W/colour cine film until 2000. Colour fim was made with equipment dismantled from the Agfa-Wolfen Factory after World War II. Svema products were known among enthusiasts as an easy and sturdy product for beginners in home film development and printing.
Their black-and-white photographic films were:
Type 1981
(old GOST
GOST
GOST refers to a set of technical standards maintained by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification , a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States .All sorts of regulated standards are included, with examples...
speed scale
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
)
- Svema FN 32; 32 GOST, ISO 40/17°
- Svema FN 64; 64 GOST, ISO 80/20°; sheet filmSheet filmSheet film is large format and medium format photographic film supplied on individual sheets of acetate or polyester film base rather than rolls. Sheet film was initially supplied as an alternative to glass plates...
s 6.5×9 cm - 30×40 cm, KB, 6×9", bulk - Svema FN 125; 125 GOST, ISO 160/23°; KB, bulk
- Svema FN 250; 250 GOST, ISO 320/26°; KB, bulk
- Svema Reporter 200 GOST, ISO 200/24° (actually cinematographic filmstock); KB, bulk
around late 1980s:
- Svema Foto 65 (80 ASA)
- Svema Foto 130
- Svema Foto 250
Type 1990
(new GOST
GOST
GOST refers to a set of technical standards maintained by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification , a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States .All sorts of regulated standards are included, with examples...
speed scale
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
, same as ASA)
- Svema Foto 50; ISO 50/18°
- Svema Foto 100; ISO 100/21°; KB, 6×9", bulk
- Svema Foto 200; ISO 200/24°; KB, bulk
- Svema Foto 400; ISO 400/27°; KB, bulk
The plant's production of photographic products slowed through the 1990s and ceased entirely in 2000. Svema shut down completely in 2006, having served only as a district heating source for the town of Shostka in the intervening years.